Yellow Browed Warbler and Ring Necked Parakeets

A quick walk at Wembury on Sunday 28th February was very quiet after the excitement of my visit last Thursday with 2 buzzards, a male stonechat and quite a few mating bloody nosed beetles being the highlights. The café was open but there was only one Chunk pasty left which I graciously let David have - unfortunately that night David was ill with copious vomiting, I don't know if it was the pasty but it was the only thing he ate that I didn't.

Heading home from Wembury and we had a quick stop off at the allotments in Central Park to have a look for the regularly reported ring necked parakeets - no sight of them but I did hear two birds calling. And so on Wednesday 2nd March and after a couple of shitty days at work I left early as I had some time owing and caught the bus home, stopping off on the way at Central Park for another look around - again I heard birds calling and eventually found 4 of them perched in trees right by the footpath - I have seen them at last! - but no binoculars or camera with me to get a really good look at them.

Thursday 3rd March and I had planned to head down to Penzance to have a look for the Hudsonian whimbrel near Marazion but it hadn't been reported for a few days and I wasn't in a great mood so I stayed local and went for a walk along the nature trail at The China Fleet Club near Saltash to look for a reported yellow browed warbler. I have only visited here once before, back in March 2012 when I saw my first lesser yellowlegs, and it was nice to visit here again despite the muddy and chilly conditions.

I checked out any small birds flitting about in the trees and bushes along the path to the bird hide and there was no sign of the yellow browed warbler but I did see a male bullfinch,  a goldfinch, greenfinch, chaffinch, goldcrest, blue tit, wren, robin, great tit, dunnock, blackbird and long tailed tit.

Primrose, China Fleet Club

Primrose

From the hide a lone avocet was roosting amongst some black headed gulls on the shoreline at the high tide along with 7 black tailed godwits, a snipe, 3 dunlin, redshank, grey heron, little egret and curlew, while on the water were 2 male and a female red breasted merganser, teal, wigeon and shelduck.

Heading back along the path and again I checked out all the small birds and eventually found a very smart firecrest  which showed very well amongst the brambles despite not staying still for a second. Some birders nearby then called the yellow browed warbler and I eventually got onto the bird and had some excellent views of it although it too didn't stay still for very long - it did at least move up into the bare branches of some small trees where it was easier to watch than the firecrest had been. While trying to keep tracks on the yellow browed warbler I also found a chiffchaff flitting about in the undergrowth along with a great spotted woodpecker flying over and I heard 2 water rails squealing in the reeds along the nearby foreshore.

Yellow Browed Warbler - record shot

Yellow Browed Warbler - another record shot

Walking back to Saltash and a flock of 25 redwings were seen flying into the tree tops from the nearby fields along with some starlings. I caught the bus back to Plymouth and stopped off at Central Park again and this time I found 2 ring necked parakeets in the same area as yesterday - this time some nice binocular views and a few poor record shots with my camera.

Black Headed Gull, Central Park

 Ring Necked Parakeet

 Ring Necked Parakeet

 Ring Necked Parakeet

Ring Necked Parakeet

I was pleased to finally connect with the ring necked parakeets after a few missed attempts recently - there have been 9 reported together now including a very blue looking bird. The Hudsonian whimbrel was reported that afternoon as well but I was actually pleased that I had stayed local as it had been an interesting and enjoyable day out and again on my doorstep.

More Local Birding - Warblers and Cirl Buntings

A 1st Winter glaucous gull was reported on the River Plym on February 21st (the day I was there birding!) and was also reported again on the 22nd and so on the 23rd I headed off to have a look for it - and as expected I didn't see it!

It was however a bright and sunny but cold day and it was nice to be out admiring the birds in the bright sunshine with that air of hope and/or expectation that I might get to see the bird I was looking for. No glaucous gull but I did see :- 2 pairs of red breasted mergansers diving for food in the river channel at low tide; 2 male goosanders floating downriver at Marsh Mills with 1 disappearing but the other roosting on the mud at low tide; a single greenshank; a very smart looking kingfisher flashing past over the water; 3 buzzards and a male sparrowhawk soaring over the woods at Marsh Mills; a great crested grebe and 2 little grebes; 2 common sandpipers together along the river edge near the railway bridge; and a pair of Canada geese.

Male Goosander, River Plym

Thursday 25th and another bright and sunny but cold day and I decided to head off to Wembury for a walk as I have neglected it a little so far this year. A lot of clearing work has occurred since I last visited back at the beginning of January with mechanical clearance of vegetation in the pony field and on the hillside above the cliff footpath at Wembury Point. Unfortunately the gorse bushes by the footpath where I found the green hairstreaks last year have gone, I only hope that any female green hairstreaks laid their eggs on the remaining gorse clumps and not those that have been removed.

I was also concerned about the Dartford warblers I watched last year as the area where I most often saw them had also been cleared but I need not have worried as I eventually found a very smart male associating with a pair of stonechats - unfortunately I found it just as the world and his dog (literally) walked by and the stonechats flew off and the Dartford warbler just disappeared. I watched and waited for a while before heading off only to find a nice pair of Dartford warblers together further along the path - this pair were stuck together like glue, the male followed wherever the female went and I am sure that there are 2 males and a female present again, the same as last year, as the first male I saw was very much alone.

And here are some more of my amazing Dartford warbler photos - not!

 Female Dartford Warbler

 Male Dartford Warbler

Female Dartford Warbler

Dartford Warbler

Dartford Warbler

I finally managed to see my first cirl buntings of the year too -  a male singing from the top of a hawthorn bush near the sewage farm with a second male heard singing nearby and a male calling in the hedgerow near the HMS Cambridge footpath.

Male Cirl Bunting

2 ravens flew along the clifftops calling and tumbling and were joined by a pair flying over from The Mewstone to chase them off. Along the shoreline were 37 oystercatcher , 2 curlew, a grey heron and 4 little egrets but the beach was fairly seaweed free and there was no sign of any water pipits, just a few rock pipits. 2 grey wagtails flew over calling and I heard 2 meadow pipits calling too but I couldn't locate them. A female blackcap showed very well while preening in bushes in a garden by the road to the beach along with a male bullfinch eating the buds of a sloe bush.

Female Kestrel

Despite the chilly weather I found a common lizard basking in the sunshine, the earliest I think that I have seen one, and a pair of bloody nosed beetles were found mating.

 Common Lizard

Bloody Nosed Beetles

Flowering Celandine sp.

The café was closed so no pasty for lunch but a very pleasant walk anyway and a reminder of how much I love a walk at Wembury.